The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011

The premise – to make three dozen cookies and send one dozen to three different people (names provided by the hosts). In return, I received three different batches of cookies too!

I received my first dozen cookies from Ashley at the Savvy Table, they were Anzacs and they were a buttery sweet oat and coconut delight. I ate all 12 cookies so fast I forgot to take a picture!

The second bakers dozen came from Julia at In Pursuit of Sugar, they were a delicious family recipe of Molasses Cookies. Sweet, spicy and buttery… these were my daughter’s favorite and thankfully I wasn’t forced to eat them all!

Lastly I received beautiful Candy Cane Blossoms from Kelly at The Pink Apron…

I created a cookie recipe with help from Ghirardelli. If you’ve read this or this post you know how much I love ghirardelli 60% cacao chips. On the back of the bag is a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. I adapted their recipe (and surprisingly did not even use the chips themselves, sorry Ghirardelli) because it makes a great base dough for cookies.

Let me apologize in advance for the pictures. While taking picture for the Anniversary and Giveaway Post, I dropped my camera on its lense and let’s just say that I hope Santa will be bringing me a new camera for Christmas…

I’m single and my daughter is 7 so by Santa, I mean me! I think I’ve been good enough this year, does that count?

In the meantime, I am using my phone and it’s less than optimal. Boo hoo.

The weekend before making these cookies, I visited my favorite cheese shop and discovered Clotted Cream Fudge and knew I had to incorporate it into a cookie.

Chocolate Clotted Cream Fudge Cookies

(adapted from the back of the Ghirardelli bag)

makes 36 cookies

3 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking soda

3/4 t. salt

1/3 c. Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 c. butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature

3/4 c. sugar*

3/4 c. brown sugar*

3 t. vanilla

3 large eggs

4 oz. clotted cream fudge or caramel, cut into 36 chunks

1 c. sugar for rolling cookies before baking

* less than the recipe calls for to adjust for higher altitude

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, blend the butter until smooth, add both sugars and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and one egg at a time, beat on medium speed until mixed. Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.

Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roll the dough into 36 balls (about 2 T. of dough per ball) and push in each piece of fudge/caramel and reform ball around it.

Roll each ball in the sugar and then place on a baking sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and let cool on a rack for about 5 minutes before placing in a bag or tin to deliver to friends!

Strudel and Streusel are two friends living in different cities, sharing a love of baking (and butter) through this blog. With Streusel in Denver, and Strudel in Seattle, we've found our little site to be a great way to stay in touch, share recipes we love, and talk about experiences in our respective cities.